Villages
Villages are settlements that can be found all over Europe and the Mediterranean region. A village usually represents a small rural community, whose activities focus on agriculture and livestock, and produces some kind of valuables. The inhabitants tend to elect a village elder among them, who can be interacted with by the player. Each village belongs to a certain culture. Like towns (and unlike castles), villages will not change their culture over the course of the game, even if conquered by a different faction from their original owner. All villages are owned by a certain lord, and while that lord will never be present inside the village (nor really care much about what happens to it), he won't take kindly that his fiefs are looted or harmed by the player; indeed, some lords will even get upset with the player if he/she assists his vassals or does something on their behalf, arguing that the player shouldn't stick his/her nose into someone else's fiefs and business. Over the course of the game, the player may come to possess villages as his/her own fiefs. Whether the player is the lord/lady of a village or not, the following interactions can be performed: * Recruit troops: hire any volunteers that may want to join your party, with a cost of 10 denars each. Usually they will be serfs or peasants, the lowest tier units in their rural troop trees. The precise kind of serf/peasant the player can recruit depends on the village's culture. The relationship of the player with the village determines the number of lads who will volunteer to join his/her party (the higher, more volunteers), while the prosperity of the village may also influence the soldiers' quality (rich or very rich villages may offer slightly upgraded troops rather than the usual serfs/peasants). * Go to the village center: take a stroll through the village and meet its inhabitants (including the Village elder). An action required to do certain quests, like slaying an outlaw who has taken refuge in the village. * Talk to the Village elder: interact directly with the elder. * Buy supplies from the peasants. * Take a hostile action: three different "hostile actions" can be carried out. ** The player may force the villagers to give supplies to the party. Results in minor loss of relationship with the village. The villagers may try to resist and violently defend what is theirs if the player has a low renown and his/her party has not a big size. If that's the case and the player (predictably) defeats them, the player's soldiers will automatically raze the village as a result. ** The player may TRY to steal cattle; the amount of cattle that can be stolen (ranging from none to several animals) depend on the player's looting skill. Also results in a minor relationship loss. ** The player can chose to plunder the village to the ground. As with the first option, expect resistance if the player is leading a small-sized warband and has a low renown. Results in a large relationship loss, not only with the villagers but also with their lord. All of the previous interactions will be disabled after a village has just been raided. It will take some time (a few ingame days) for the scattered and scared villagers to return to their destroyed homes and start rebuilding. Managing a village If the player becomes the lord of a village (either by conquering its related castle or town or having it granted as a fief by the ruler of a faction), ... Category:Settlements